Per capita survey: Texas does more with less

Texas spending per capita is the lowest in the countrySurvey also calls state government one of the best

PATRICK BRENDEL, Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle Washington Bureau

Published 6:30 am, Tuesday, March 4, 2008

WASHINGTON — The Texas state government spends less money per resident than any other state in the country, according to a new survey that also ranks Texas as the fourth best-run state in the nation.

Texas spent $3,638 per year for each person in the state, according to the report — less than one-third the amount of top spender Alaska's $12,833. While the Lone Star State budget ranked third in the country, Texas spent about half as much per resident as the states ahead of it, California and New York.

The report card from the Pew Center on the States, released Monday, gave Texas an overall grade of B+ for quality of governance, improving upon its grade of B from its last report card in 2005. The state scored highest for its innovative uses of technology.

Only Utah, Virginia and Washington state received better grades from Pew's Government Performance project. Texas finished in a five-way tie for fourth place in the study.

Despite the state's positive scores, the report had little good to say about Gov. Rick Perry, concluding that legislators succeeded despite Perry's "distaste for performance budgeting."

Perry spokesman Robert Black dismissed the criticism and noted that recent Texas prison system reforms lauded in the study were initially championed by the governor in his State of the State address.

In addition to criminal justice reform, the report highlights the state's budgeting process, the five-year strategic plans for each agency and the new business tax.

The study also praised the Texas Department of Transportation. TxDOT "is strapped for cash, but has demonstrated a commitment to maintaining the condition of its existing assets even when it's meant putting off more glamorous projects," the report said.